By Ameenu Shardow
GHANAsoccernet.com speaks exclusively to newly elected vice president of the Ghana Football Association, Jordan Anagbla.
The Greater Accra RFA chairman shares amongst other things his involvement with football, some past experiences and vision for Ghana football for the next four-years as GFA vice President.
GSN:Â Thank You for speaking to GHANAsoccernet.com.
JA: Thank you for the opportunity given.
GSN: First and foremost for those who don't know who Jordan Anagbla is, could you please give us a brief history of yourself.
JA: Seriously i don't like talking about my background but all I can say is that I am a humble African boy who just takes interest in football haven played the game before. I am actually a complete athlete, I would have been a sprinter, high jumper, triple jumper and then football.
GSN: When did you realize the enormous love for football and how did you first get into it?
JA: It was right from my infancy, my daddy always tell me he is not surprised at all at where I am now. I was first an administrator with Welfare Stars and then continued with Islamic Stars and Madina United which I personally bankrolled.
I again brought the juvenile game to Ga-East District for that matter Madina area which produced players like Vorsah, Prince Tagoe and others. We started with eight clubs and now it has grown to a think thirty eight or so.
GSN: What is it about football that make people like you invest so much in it?
JA: For me it is the love for the game, even at my infancy when I am given chop money I use it to buy football to play with my friends and it has been part of me since.
Like I told you, my daddy practically fights with me about why i spend so much of my money on football but I don't care. My house has now virtually turn into a hotel where I look after a lot of boys, their schooling and all that.
GSN: So would you say the game has rewarded you satisfactorily having invested so much?
JA: At one time I almost regretted haven spent so much on it and there is no reward. But then after sleeping on it I realized it was something a enjoy a lot and couldn't do away with. I always take it as service to God and to mankind but i pray one day the good Lord opens a way. That is why people saw me weeping after we won the U-20 World Cup, because I had realized from where I have come from I had finally made history.
GSN: Now to that historic feat in 2009, you kept insisting that Ghana was going to win the competition, where did you derive such confidence from?
JA: I can tell you I didn't have any spiritual backing except from God. I am one person who never gives up, right from my infancy, if you beat me I always follow you so that is how I am.
GSN: So how disappointed were you when the current squad were unable to defend the numerous titles won in 2009?
JA: For tow-days I was extremely sad, I couldn't do anything. Even on the flight back home I never wanted to talk to anybody. I was so disappointed that I said to myself, never will I involve myself with players who are cowards again. I will give glowing tribute to the 2008/2009 U-20 squad, they were so special and whenever I spoke to them, they performed like magic.
GSN: Will Ghana ever have such a talented and as confident as the 2009 squad?
JA: I doubt, I have been with the U-20's since 2001 but the kind of courage displayed by the 2009 squad, I have never seen before.
GSN: Are they the set of players to finally win a senior world cup for Ghana?
JA: Trust me, they will.
GSN: I you looking forward to re-uniting with them at the Black Stars?
JA: I have always been with them. They always call and visit me whenever they are in town. In fact Agyemang-Badu called me for advice before we played Nigeria's U-23.
I just told him to look into the skies and tell God whatever he wanted and thankfully we won that match.
GSN:Â Away from the U-20's how surprised were you to have recieved such an overwhelming endorsement at both the RFA level and subsequently at the Executive Committee to become the vice President of the GFA?
JA: It is something I never wanted in the first place. Everything happened in this office when I came to pick up something before heading for the GFA on Saturday. I later got a call from my friends who told me they were bringing food for us to eat only for them to come in their numbers with their position.
I initially rejected it but after consulting with my brother and listening to them insisting they wanted me, I finally decided to go for it.
GSN: How did you feel after the ballots were counted and it emerged you have won by a landslide?
JA: Initially i felt very hurt as if I had betrayed someone but after sleeping over it I realized there comes a time in a man's life that you have to lead from the front.
GSN: Why do you think your colleagues settled on you and not the others?
JA: I don't know, I can only say it is God. Maybe because of my bluntness, honesty or Charisma.
GSN: Having won the polls I am sure you'd realize there will be a lot of expectations on your shoulders, how do you intend to cope with pressure that comes with the job?
JA: Fortunately for me, I have a very competent vice chairman to handle the RFA so I get enough time and space to handle the national one. It is nothing new to me so I believe I will able to manage it very well.
GSN: What do you hope to have achieved in the next four-years where you would probably be exiting the seat?
JA: Well, I hope and in fact it has been one of the visions of the President to build a proper office infrastructure for the various RFA's to conduct their business.
Even if you look here for instance, people come in here in drones and there is no space and privacy for officials so my main brief will be to help improve infrastructure at the RFA's.
GSN: A lof of people also say since you have done it at the U-20 level perhaps you should be given the chance with the Black Stars, what do you say to that?
JA: Well I am willing to serve in any capacity deemed fit by the President. I am a team player and if I am given the Black Stars then so be it.
GSN: Any message to Ghanaians and the general public?
JA: I would only ask for their continued support and hopefully we will achieve a lot of great things together.
GSN: Thank You very much but finally if anyone asks you how did you do it, what will you tell them?
JA: I would simply tell them I will do it again.